Friday, June 03, 2016

To Know What Kind Of Leader Donald Trump Would Be, Just Look At Florida Governor Rick Scott ... by gimleteye

Gov. Rick Scott may be a good father, a great friend, but he's a perfectly horrible governor of Florida, the nation's third most populous and key electoral state.

It is understandable why voters are angry in Florida. So angry, in fact, they voted for a leader with zero experience in government or the public sector. Gov. Rick Scott.

Donald Trump, like Scott, has zero experience in government. Voters have somehow been persuaded 1) no experience counts as an asset and 2) business can "fix" government. People need to step back and think for a bit. You wouldn't choose a surgeon to operate on you, who hadn't received an education and qualifications and training for surgery. You wouldn't put your finances in the hands of someone who hadn't studied finances and regulation. And if you elected someone on the basis of business experience, for a top executive office in government, you would want to be sure those executive skills had some tangential relationship to benefiting people, not just accruing wealth.

Trump's business expertise has a foundational core principle: to take advantage not just of gullible people (ie. Trump University) by skirting the edges of the law. That is exactly how Gov. Scott made his fortune: mastering and manipulating health care reimbursement programs to his personal advantage. The company Scott founded was charged and convicted of being a criminal enterprise. Scott was not only fortunate he dodged a felony conviction, he was was also lucky that Florida voters appeared immune to his absence of qualifications.

No wonder Donald Trump admires Rick Scott.

Rick Scott proved one can win a high office with no achievement or experience in public sector. One can run against government and then ignore public policies whose ostensible purpose is to protect the health and welfare of taxpayers.

The problem with electing CEO's who disdain government is that the executive branch of government has to deal with two other branches of government: the legislature and judiciary. Here, American voters should carefully consider that Rick Scott in Florida, who successfully created his own echo chamber in the executive office -- shutting out the public and critics, has alienated the state legislature and even his own cabinet officers. Scott's attacks against the judiciary -- the Florida Supreme Court -- are appalling. His cabinet officers view him with contempt. Republican legislative leaders are scarcely on speaking terms with Scott.

It is preordained that a Trump presidency would put Congress on ice. As for the judiciary, heaven help us.

In Florida the roiling pro-business, anti-regulation atmosphere is exactly as toxic as Scott critics predicted. As Donald Trump competes for the presidency, observers don't have to imagine how it would turn out: just look at Florida and its worst governor in history, Rick Scott.

Rick Scott installed sycophants and yes-men in Tallahassee, creating a feudal empire out of the executive branch. As horrible and unfortunate as it is for Florida, the same outcome is unimaginable for the United States.

Trump would be a dictator who would use the power of the Presidency to belittle and hurt people to get his way. He has little understanding of the constitution, and how we operate on a day-to-day basis in American society. For example hardly anyone would simply look at a judge's last name and say simply because he is Mexican, he is no good, and against me. Or look at the governor of a state and because she did not come to your reception and did not endorse you, you hold a press conference and announce that she is no good and doing a poor job for the state. What kind of person does that? He would rule the country with fear and intimidation. He would talk about Congress like a dog. He would use his considerable presidential powers to destroy the main players and their families. He has already said he wants to put Sec. Clinton in jail. A lot of others would be going to jail too, if they opposed him. And the judiciary, no legal guiding principles would rule. Either a judge was for him or against him, good or no good, do what he says or pay the consequences.

He does not understand the nature of power. We are the most powerful country in the world. We walk softly, but carry a big stick. For the Republican party to sit back and allow a small-minded man like Trump to become the nominee and a potential threat to our way of life is unforgivable.

I'm not sure a registered Republican had any great options in the Florida primary. I don't think you need government experience to be a great politician. You just need to be willing to do the right things: like make sure citizens have clean water, safe food, a clean environment, transparent well-regulated markets, etc. Scott has proven he's willing to compromise these basics for personal gain.